Task 6c

One of the articles I found was written in the Telegraph by their education editor, Graeme Paten. Title being ‘Summer-born children ‘lag behind at school’. This article clearly states that the summer born children struggle to catch up to the others. So surely pro-longing this process more, by having the younger children of the year start later is making this worst to begin their academic journey. It talks about they are more likely to be bullied and have learning difficulties than the older children. By big issue with this fact is where is the justifying in what the government has put in place to ensure this isn’t the case. There is no good in writing these points and not giving solutions. It goes on to talk about the younger ones less likely to get a-levels, join 6^th form or attend university again this is another issue that I want to know is in place to make sure that it isn’t the case. Is it because children fall behind, is it because children have a hard time through-out their school? Is it confidence? It talks about a debate for the best way to educate summer born children. Apparently the discussion was about making children all 4 so it is earlier and they have longer to master the basics but academics warned that children being pushed too early before there ready can be negative. My thoughts on this immediately are yes maybe our children should come to school to learn the basics but surely it has to be basic. Many nurseries and children centres were some children are younger than 4 it isn’t just basics they are being pushed to learn learn learn as setting have to follow the EYFS but this is surely the problem why can’t it be all play and they start to learn and follow routine after a year of ‘play’.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/7916918/Summer-born-children-lag-behind-at-school.html#

The next article I like was a BBC News one and it was named ‘is five too soon to start school’? This talks about English children go through a fixed curriculum whilst other European countries their children at the age of 5 are still playing at home. From what I have read I believe that there have been previous studies into if an early start has an advantage but like said before there seems to be no answers.

"The assumption that an early starting age is beneficial for children's later attainment is not well supported in the research and therefore remains open to question," report says.

this quote really makes me excited for my inquiry as it supports my points and views that’ there is not a definite reason as to why the UK do it different to any other country, I go on..

This article interestingly talks about out reason being in our history which a college as mentioned to me once before. It says it was for protection for our children in the Victorian times and if a child started early they could leave early and get a job. This has completely changed now as a child starts so young and can carry on consecutive learning until the age of 21+. So have they really thought about starting later to finish later?

It also discus’s that children have less time with their families than other countries does this affect them long term?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7234578.stm

 

Finally in the same article as above it discusses a lot about other countries. This was a short point I liked. It was about Finnish children starting formal education at the age of 7 yet they have the highest level of standards and the same for Polish children they have the best reading skills. So how can our country justify the starting age being so young? Or is it just a cultural thing that their naturally a more clever country?

These were 3 bits of literature on my inquiry topic that stood out to me and many link to my ideas as discussed before. They are 3 main points which I will use for module 3 and will carry on finding more literature on my topic.

 

Task 6b

I found the interview process the most difficult one in terms of time. I had set in my mind who I wanted to interview and it was really hard to find a time appropriate to get quality out of the interview. After a week went by I managed to sit down with this person and carry out the interview. The interview felt very formal which was how I wanted it to be. I got what I wanted form the interview which was really good data for me to note down. The interviewee stated that they really liked my questions and posed I should put them to other people as well. I feel the important part of this was choosing who to interview, I wouldn’t just pick anyone it really had to be someone who was going to know stuff I was about to ask them. As for the actual questions I was really pleased with them and got exactly what I wanted from them.

The survey I have found really useful. I feel that people don’t mind taking 5 minutes of their time to write an answer, I feel it’s the best way to get across to many different people. There is not a limit as to how many surveys to give out. I think my questions were abit average but I do also feel for my inquiry they are very appreciate, I particularly liked my last question which was about what someone would do if they could make the law up I feel it gave the person real freedom and it means I can really see peoples true views on schooling. I received most of my surveys back and I managed to ask 1 parent, 6 teachers and 2 others who work with children but in different settings. So it really gave me what I wanted with a wide range of answers.

My focus group was another one which was hard to do as getting everyone together was a challenge. But I got there in the end and everyone grabbed coffee and I just had a general ‘chat’ and put in my questions. I found this so useful it really started up a discussion which lead to a mini debate. It gave me all sorts of answers that I can reflect on. It allowed people to talk about their own personal experiences about my topic. I am glad I choose people in my year group as it meant we had a base to relate back to. I only asked 3 questions during this as I wanted the discussions to go into depth. As for the personalities of people this was the challenge. Some people found it hard to chip in as I did have one person who was very over powering so I as the leader had to keep trying to bring it back to everyone which I did find difficult I had to ensure I was listening to everyone.

Lastly the observation was interesting I did feel it made the person feel a bit uncomfortable but I just ensured I made them feel at ease. It was interesting to see different tactics to mine and was odd to watch an adult rather than what I’m used to is to observe a child. I found this the least useful just as I feel I kind of observe the teacher daily so if I was to do this again I would maybe choose a parent and choose a different setting.

So for module 3 I will decently use surveys to find out information and peoples opinions I will also do lots of focus groups. I will try interviews again and try to plan them in advance. I will try my best to make people aware of my inquiry and involve as many people as I can.

Task 6a

For my pilot interview I wanted to research on official data. I will use the interviewee’s answers as evidence. I want to ask why to someone who has experience in my subject of inquiry and who has the correct knowledge. I want to find out others perception on my chosen topic. I can use this all as data. I will do the interview face to face and it will be an individual and it will be structured questions. I want the interview to feel relaxed and be like a conversation between two colleges. I will ensure I use appropriate language and make sure the interviewee knows what the interview is being used for. I will research data on the literature of my inquiry and look into the government’s policies. I have chosen someone who works in my work place and has many years of experience and is currently studying education. I intend to do the interview on neutral ground which will be at the school in her classroom. I will make notes throughout and not record so it won’t intimidate my interviewee.

This is my structure for the interview.

1.       More than half of the late comers are summer born, how can this affect them in their learning?

2.       The age children start school is 4-5 in the UK and is different depending in the countries law. It has never been proven as to why there are any benefits to this. What could be the positives for a child to start later than the age of 5?

3.       89% September, 10% January, 1% April. As shown the majority start in September in reception. To save the minority falling behind others why do you think the government have given this choice in the first place?

4.       Statistics prove that children who enter school earlier than others immediately do better in tests. What methods can teaching staff use to try their best to make this not the case?

For my pilot survey I want people’s opinions and what they think. I will do it in a style of a questionnaire. I want to gather a wide range of answers so I will try to hand it to teachers from different year’s groups. I will try my best to ask parents, staff and other people who work with children in different settings. I will simply hand it to them and they can hand back to me when they wish.

This is my structure for my survey.

1.       Why do you think people feel 4 years old is too young for their child to start school, and therefore wait until their 5^th birthday? Does this affect the child and why>

2.       So some countries in Europe have their pupils attend school first at the age of 7, why do you think the UK has chosen 4-5? If any?

3.       Research tells me that 10,000 summer born children fail to achieve 5a*-c’s at GCSE’s. What are your initial thoughts on this?

4.       4. If you could make up your own laws on public schooling what age would the children start and why?

For my pilot focus group I want to do a group interview with people with the same interests so in my case I will choose my fellow colleges in my year group. As Bell comments “focus groups are more likely to include members who either have similar characteristics or experience… or are known to have a professional concern about and knowledge of the issues involved.” I feel it is important that the other people are just as keen and knowledgeable about the topic as am I. I want the group to feel comfortable and will do it casually on a lunch break in our staffroom and jot notes down. I will use as the spokes person who will trigger the questions. To manage it I will ensure were in a circle and everyone can be heard and seen. String personalities can be an issue so I will therefore direct some questions at certain people. I want to develop my inquiry and make people think of my topic. I want to make it relevant to others practise.

This is my structure for the focus group.

1.       How can we help the younger ones settle in?

2.       If we have children who start in January or April what do we do to get their learning up to the standards of others?

3.       Does having a long process to settle the summer/winter baby’s help or not?

For the pilot observation I will observe my class teacher. I will ensure I do a framework and show the teacher. They can be time consuming so I will do it when the time is best for the teacher. I will make sure I have permission and reassure that it will be confidential. I have chosen to observe the teacher when they’re doing what we call a plod activity. The teacher will sit with a child observe them and move the child’s learning on there and then. The child will be a summer born baby and the child would have been a child who settled in last and had the longer process. I will see the techniques of the teacher.

This is my stature for the observation.

1.       What does the teacher do to boost the child’s confidence and to help the child?

2.       How does the teacher adapt it for that child?

3.       What language does the teacher use?

 

 

A Brief Blog

I am in the process of doing my pilot tasks. I have read through reader 6 jotted down some notes and will be carrying out these questions as soon as. I also did some research to get some facts for my questions and have logged it all for my final inquiry.
Wish me luck.. On i go......

Task 5d

During my inquiry I will plan to be ethical by ensuring my colleges or any pupils I involve know that any information they give me or any answers given will always be blogged but it will always remain anonymous. I will never force them to answer anything they don’t want to. I will make sure that there aren’t any children’s names or faces mentioned. I will ensure the name of my workplace is never mentioned. When I carry out the inquiry and when it is being used in my practise I will make sure I never let it take over the quality of the teaching or the children’s learning time. I will never presume or make up any facts and make sure I do my research if facts are involved. The first thing I would do is to inform anyone that would need to know what my inquiry was all about and what it was for.               

Task 5c

Personal ethics

I have never thought about my personal ethics ever before this module came up. Having had a thought about it I would say from a young age, a baby to a teen my family and close ones taught me my personal ethics subconsciously. They taught me right from wrong. They taught me my manners and to respect each individual and to love those close to me. From a teen I guess my friends and me myself followed the same ethics due to being in the same circle of friends it was what I knew. I always thought being there for a friend or family member was a rule in life and that is a must and still is. Naturally growing up I have always treated others how I would like to be treated but I have learnt that every individual is different but needs to be treated the same. My opinion on personal ethics is that everyone’s ethics are different from one person to the next depending on their beliefs, lifestyle and personality.

Organisation ethics

From the start of this question I have looked into many of my organisations ethics. I have learnt that there are so many ethics people have to follow in an organisation. Everyone would follow the same dress code, contract and all would need to treat one another with equal amount of respect. Like I said above people have very different personal ethics but coming together in an organisation people have to adapt and follow the same ethics. In my own organisation I have come across many ethics I wouldn’t have ever thought I was applying but interestingly I am, I am sure many people would agree in theirs it’s the same.

Professional ethics

My first thoughts on professional ethics was that surely it’s about the individual and if you’ve learnt your own personal ethics throughout your life it would of taught you to be a professional in any situation therefore giving you professional ethics. Learning to respect others and yourself and following rules of life and meeting standards you need to would make you professional.

Consequentialist

If I had a child that came into reception in September fighting and shouting everyone and genuinely being inappropriate. And then January comes and the child had made great progress and had many friends and was pleasant to everyone around. This was due to the teachers completely ignoring the negative behaviour, when the child was being distracting. The tactics the teachers used was to praise the child when done the littlest thing. I feel being a consequentialist could work in certain scenarios. Surely it is wrong to go against such an ethic of being treated equally and to me every child has different needs and you need to use different approaches on them.

Deontologist

Having just right from wrong in my profession is nearly impossible. Especially when a child has answered a question and they are so close to the correct answer or you know they have tried so hard telling them their wrong would completely shatter their confidence and again not remembering that they all have different needs. Surely it’s an achievement so that to me is not wrong even if the answer isn’t right. Being a deontologist maybe would work in some organisations but definitely not all of them.

Virtue ethicist

Working at a school with children from all different walks of life with many different needs I immediately have to get to know what they are capable of and get to know their characteristics to know their actions. To be this means to be inclusive and to treat everyone the same and this has become part of my personal, organisation and professional ethics.

Task 5b

So after me thinking what the ethics were in teaching I went away and found a booklet on 'teachers standards' which is a legal document teachers must follow. Here is a link to the download

http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/t/teachers%20standards%20information.pdf

After looking at these 'musts' it made me think about what my initial thoughts were. I clearly thought of the obvious my I feel I went along the thought of most jobs and things which you have to do in a lot of professions. I don't feel like I thought from a teacher’s point of view and the detail of the job and the musts of the job. The preamble to me sums up the job and really should sum up a teacher, if quality teaching was happening.

In my setting we as staff have to follow codes of conduct at all times this clearly states the following in more detail...

 

General expectations- Do not discriminate, promote the school, comply school policies, do not make public statements about the school, no alcohol during school hours, do not drug abuse, do not rumour

 

Working practises- promote the school, work reliably, carry out instructions, be part of a team

 

Reporting malpractice and improper conduct (whistleblowing) - If needed get the policy from Schools Personnel Service

 

Schools policies and procedures- all staff should look at the staff handbook and follow this

 

Dealing with pupils- achieves the highest possible level of achievement for all pupils, value everyone equally. Apply the schools behaviour policy, ensure anything confiscated are safe

 

Health and safety- familiarise with health and safety statements, comply with hygenine requirements, comply with accident reporting requirements, never put anyone at risk, and inform manager of any other paid work

 

Appearance and dress- neat and clean, dress appropriately for your setting, role model; do not put anyone at embarrassment

 

Hours of work and attendance- attend work in accordance to contract, appointments to be made outside of work

 

Sickness absence- notification as early as possible and keep school informed where absence continues

 

Sensitive information and confidentially- know what is confidential information, know who can access it

 

Use of school resources- appropriate use of internet, no mobile phones

 

Keeping within the law- uphold the law at work, never commit a crime, breaching copyright, sexual offences. Crimes of dishonesty

 

This was a broken down version of the schools code of conduct. In comparison to my thoughts I feel I touched on some of these but looking through them now they are all in place in my practise but there are some I have never thought of. Some I hope never ever go on. I’m sure many school follow similar procedures and policies. 

 

My workplace has their own school aims and values this is available for staff, pupils and parents to see.

 

 

Our School Aims and Values To be a friendly and welcoming school where everyone cares for each other and their environment. To commit to constant improvement in the pursuit of the highest standards. To develop and promote each child’s self-esteem, self-discipline, sense of responsibility and co-operation, so that they become successful learners. To provide a learning environment in which everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve his/her potential, feeling secure, happy and valued. To provide an education to encourage each child to be a self-confident, inquiring, tolerant, positive individual, a well-rounded character with an inquisitive mind to learn, respecting the differences of others, to be of value to society. To ensure the provision of a relevant, differentiated and balanced curriculum for all children, to excite and motivate life-long learning. To work in strong partnerships with the community to foster high expectations for all children, learning for all and celebrate diversity.

 

It is up in the school and it is on our school website. Again these are points that all staff follow I would never think of them as ethics buts quite frankly they are.

My school also has a mission statement which I feel is important for people to just refer to when wanting to know how the workplace works it is crucial to many.

We work as a team to ensure that all of our children are given the best possible opportunities to experience real success with their learning and development.

We place great importance on the need for children to work hard and become independent learners because we want them to achieve high standards in all that they do at school.

This to me just touches on what the professionals do at my workplace but it is something I will always think of as our main personal ethic.

Lastly the pupils also have ethics to follow. They have golden rules.

 The School Rules: Golden Rules

• Do be gentle
• Do be kind
• Do listen
• Do work hard
• Do be honest
• Do look after property

Children are reminded of these weekly. If ever any issues with behaviour this is used and also used to show parents our expectation of their children.

These are all the policies my workplace follow and interestingly I have now been thinking more and more about my practise ensuring I am following every point.

Starting 5a

Just touching on the ethics of my workplace. I have never ever thought about these so I shall mention the ones that have sprung to my mind.

I feel working anywhere but for my school arriving on time is crucial but I feel arriving at least 15 minutes before your start time is a must to make sure you have all things ready for the day ahead. Making sure your presentation is appropriate, you are wearing suitable clothes. So if working with early years making sure you don’t mind getting your clothes and foot wear dirty. Making sure you don’t have any jewellery on that could put the children or you at risk. Making sure all your body is covered up and any tattoos aren’t on show. We expect the children not to be wearing jewellery or stick ons so don’t be hypercritical. Be a role model. It is an obvious but ensuring the environment is safe reporting anything you think will be an issue and not keep it to yourself. Follow any risk assessments put in place.  Informing all the team of anything they will need to know. Of a morning or afternoon or eve throughout the day if needed to make sure parents or careers know what they need to as well. Ensuring anything children parents or colleges have told you confidentially it stays that way. Again another obvious one is using appropriate language talk to the children and parents how you would expect them to talk to you. Use the right words and tone with them. At all times throughout the day regardless of how busy you are making sure the children are always safe. Recognising when an activity or session is not working and adapting it straight away. Lastly always communicate clearly to the children don’t confuse them in any way.

This was my initial thoughts of it I am sure I will now really notice the ethics in my professional practise and ensure I am bettering my practise.

task 4d

Based on what I have been looking into and having had a chat with Alan. I really feel my award title needs to be so specific. Obviosuly I want it be about my teaching. But some thing I am keen to hear peoples outlook on.
So I am thinking something along the lines of

BA(hons) in professional practise in teachers perceptions on children born in the final quartile,

This is not my final descision as of yet but resllt thinking along them lines.

task 4c

I asked some of my colleges some questions I have looked into and asked myself about my inquiry. I put it across the school so I asked reception, year 1 and year 2. Unfortunately we are just an infant school.  The questions I developed were..

Give your opinion on our settling in process in reception? Does it affect their learning or behaviour in any way?

Can you notice who is born in the first quartile or second through what they can achieve?

A reception teaching assistant said ‘the process takes too long for them. The older ones are always settled in better because they have started earlier so naturally they feel more comfortable. There is always such confusion for the children and the parents. But mainly for the children as one week their coming to school of a morning and the next their coming of an afternoon this can really affect their behaviour it can make them silly or get themselves in trouble.’

Another reception teaching assistant I asked was someone who had previously studied early years. They said ‘It really can work the process if good management is taking on it. If the communication is there and messages are being passed through teachers to parents and children so they have some understanding. I do feel as the months go on I see a difference in that the older ones are now pulling away. Some of these children have been in setting since they were 2 there is so much expected of them. Schooling elsewhere can be because of their religions and that it’s against their views. We as brits are still very Victorian. On the process of them settling to school we call it moulding there are many techniques for children to gradually be at the same level. ‘

A year one teacher said ‘standards. ‘mainly their behaviour is really dependant on who that individual is and nothing to do with what quartile they are born in. I may find as they come up from reception that their grouping in say maths that the top group may all be the older ones but often find s the year goes on this can change due to their developing a character and behaviour can really affect their learning.’

Lastly a year two teaching assistant said ‘I’ve never ever noticed a different but it is really interesting you have questioned this as it’ll now make me go back and look at their books to see if there is any difference. Maybe as their coming up the school they have all really balanced out.’

As my professional associates were answering these I felt it is an issue not many people had discussed and looked at before I am therefore excited to dig deeper into this as the course continues.

 

summary

After looking at some of the questions and points Alan made I have found out a little more on admissions in schools.
I searched through some websites and came across one for admissions in Northern Ireland. Interestingly if a child is born in august they would be put in the year below them so there academic year stops at July. There was no signific reason i could find as to why they do it that way or why the UK do it the way we do. But interestingly all I could see was that the parent is blame clearly but there was no reasons stated if it was benefical for the children. Most sites about when child start school it claimed parent get prosecuted if their child is not in school by their 5th birthday. It stated that the coucils welfare officer would contact them and give them a warning and then they were prosecuted. I have joint up to netmums and put a survey out on their views on summer andn winter babies. The couple of replies I have had all feel they don't notice the difference in their learning if born early or later. One mum feels 5 is a great age and even earlier would be benefical.
Just from discussin these points with people has made me question my schools settling in process.. should we seperate them so much at the begginning and persume the winter born are more ready than the summer ones? obviously it is out of my control to change this but I do know that as the all start and mix up I ensure I put them all together and not make the eldest childrens work any harder or different to the younger ones.
From a personnal point of view at my school we have 3 key children a week who we observe and plan activis to follow out with them. And at my school we make the list of these in September and we immediatly put the september to april born first and then the rest last. But from being in Novmeber now and having done 3 quarters of these children I've already noticed that in many of the children there is not much different. One child would count recognise and write their numbers would would still be 4 yet a 5 year old may not even be able to count to 5.
So my summary of this is do we already from such an early age persume the capability of children??

For anyone who wants to discuss more on my blogs and help me right out please comment and message me on this link which we could then hopefully form a SIG group.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/claire-johnas/5b/807/9b2

Look foward to chatting further :)

Ages

Starting age of schools in different countries

 I looked up different countries and the age children can attend pre school or primary school. This is not legally it's the age they are entitled to start if needed and wanted.

Age 3- 3 countries

Age 4- 5 countries

Age 5- 3 countries

Age 6- 11 countries

Age 7- 3 countires

Interestingly most countries start from year one. Which to me and what this country are so used to having children attend pre-school seems crazy. We have a whole different curriculm in reception and nursery, the foundation stage which in these 11 countries doesn’t exist.  I am interested in knowing if anyone’s background is in another country and were schooled in another country I would really appreciate a brief encounter onto your thoughts?

More Research

 

In 2009 the school secretary Ed Balls felt he was changing the opportunities for the summer babies. Rather than them starting in January or April they have the chance to start in September just like the winter babies. This however is in my place at my school but my only doubt is like discussed in the last blog a 5 week settling process and the younger children’s being shortened is this then a problem. Some children have been to nursery or a children’s centre previous to going to school and some haven’t. My question is would that be another thought on a category to settle the children in? I will be discussing my thoughts with teachers across the school.

As I started to research into ages children start school I came across an article from May 2012 talking about how they should raise the age to 6 in the UK. This is interesting to me as most people I have questioned about this really think it's a positive thing for them to start at an early age. People were all for children going to nursery. But if you have a read of this it gives a complete different outlook on childrens education.
This really is extreme..............


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2145136/School-starting-age-raised-to-prevent-long-term-damage-brighter-children.html

The start of the researching

After having a long think about this module and the lines of inquiry it really stuck out to me that I am interested and passionate about the effects it has on a child depending on the age they start at. As I am working in reception my year group is a prime example of how children start at different times. We have the oldest children who are born in the early quartile of the year the start one week earlier for just a morning. The following week the oldest just do the morning again and the youngest who are born in the later quartile the do the afternoon. The third week into the term the youngest children they just do the morning now and the oldest they do all day up untill two. The fourth week the youngest stay untill two and the oldest they do full day. Then finally in the fifth week of term they all do full time depending on if they are ready and settled. I mean is this fair? Does sit mean to say the younger ones aren't as ready? Does this have an effect on they schooling throughout their first year? Does this then have a knock on effect later on?

This is just in my practise I wonder if anyone knows of any different processes or what they know works best of the children.............

Task 4a Reflection on the questionnaire

To sum up my questionnaire I really needed to analyse and conclude my research which is what I will look at first.

After questioning different people on my questions it was interesting to see that some people came up with similar answers and one of them would work in a school and one was a builder. I wonder whether they weren’t deep enough or whether they were too closed. I would love people to sit and analyse their answer for me so it could back up their opinion.  There is no right or wrong in any of the questions yet all people’s answers are right to me.

When giving people my questionnaire I realised many of my questions were difficult to analyse if you did not work in a school or have experience with children and education. My questions were quite biased to how I feel, almost like I thought people would agree with me which to some extent they did. Most of my questions were about different things which I am keen on. I think I could look into each question sepratly and further it.

For example….

Q1. I could go on to question, when is the right time for children to start school and why do you think this?

Q2. On the thoughts about nursery I could ask, do you think there are any other negatives about children not attending nursery?

Q3. Obviously nursery s there for children to learn, so what do you think is the most important to learn at the age of 3?

Q4. Inclusion is so big so I could ask, what does inclusion mean to you?

Q5. I would just ask to give reasons on why it benefits them.

Q6. To be honest this was not a strong question and was one I would take out!

So this is my reflection on my process of my questionnaire and I shall now go away and think of what my answers are.

Task 4a

These are my questions that I shall be asking other people on thier views. I will be more than grateful if my fellow students could post onto here your views, answers and just some general feed back. Once I have put out a questionaire I will blog the outcomes and my reflection on this.


1. In the UK children legally have to attend school from their fifth birthday, in other countires it is six or seven. Do you feel five is too young to attend full time education?


2. Do you feel that children who go to school at the age of 5 without attending nursery miss an important social interactive learning experience?


3. Do you think children being taught phonics at the age of 3 is beneficial for their future learning?


4. Do you feel schools are as inclusive as they say they can be?


5. Alot of reception and nusery children are taught through child intiated play and also adult led activities. Which do you feel has more of an impact on their learning?


6. Many schools now have a teaching assistant aswell as the class teacher. Do you feel they are as important as each other?

Comenius trip

I am aware that I have n ot blogged in a while i've been busy enjoying my six weeks off :) but as the holidays are coming to an end I think it's time to get back into blogging and working.

Back in June I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go on what is called a comenius trip to Hungary. This was to see how their culture is and how their education is. When arriving into budapest we found out we had a 6 hour coach journey to our hotel, so yes everything was miles apart!! during our visit we went to their pre school and primary school. Many things were different to our education system, they do not where uniform they have shorter days. their reception class have naps!! It was delightful to say the least. Their lunch was delivered from school to school all cooked in one kitchen. The pre school had two classes of about 15 children in. also during the visit we was lucky enough to see some hungarian dancing and join in. It was indeed a great experience and I do hope to go on many more of these.

Task 3a

The Networked Professional
It took me to ask other students to break down what professional networking was before I could discuss it. I realised in all professions it happens. To start with my profession, in my school alone we have to meet weekly for a 'business meeting' where everything that is happening around the school is discussed from health and safety to birthdays. all of the information of what is going on goes onto the 'fronter' so everyone can access this and get into contact with colleges on this. All teachers around the borough meet up for courses, meetings or moderation etc. They use websites to engage in others practises and know what schoools are doing.
Recently I have been going to a zumba class and I am really interested in it. The instructor put on her facebook the other day about training so I contacted her and she informed me about training days and what it can be used for ect. Immediatly I sent a message out on facebook to pe co ordinater of the school which then ment he could inform who needs to know.
My school do a thing called Commenus. These are trips abroad. Unfortunatly I have not been lucky enough to go yet but I have been asked to the next one which is in Hungary! These trips consist of teachers from several schools all around the world and they visit one school together. They are able to learn through each others practise. They then do a presentation to the other colleges back at school and they use this to share with the others on the trips. Its a reall good way to see how different other practises are  through a networking event.
Many practisioners use networking as an advantage to either sell or show their work. I have attended a business networking event which I spoke about in task1. They filmed it all and put it on youtube for others to see. It was a chance for other businesses to meet others and help eachother. My boyfriend attends a business meeting weekly where all different people who run businesses meet and sell there bussness. They contact eachother through emails and can  promote anything they want by just sending to all there links. Others people use facebook or twitter to share their work. People who perform uploads images or videos to want people to like or comment on it. Chickenshed uses the internet all the time to network to others what is on.
Events, issues, statements, shows, celebs are always spoken about verbally or through sites on the internet. Before you know it everyone knows if you want them too. Networking is very imprtant to many professions and is key to success.

Task 2d

When i started to ready through this task I first questioned myself on themes I thought had come up throughout my blogging experience and was stuck.. I read through my blogs and thought I'll get back to it which I then thought once i had answered all the questions it told me then..........

What in your daily practise gets you enthusiastic to find out more? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?
I like nothing more than seeing children proud of what they have acheived, seeing them happy by doing that makes me want to be at work and want to come in the following day. As being with the same children day in day out you get to know them as individuals which all these children are. Many children I work with come from diprived backgrounds and nothing beats watching them smile all day. It makes my job worthwile and wanting to be a key part of their lives. I learn so much with my class teacher who has been teaching for many years now and has taught me all what I know in reception. She works wonders with every class she has. I have been in other classes worked alongside other teachers by to me this one teacher is exactly what I would love to be as a teacher. I do admire her as a person and I definitley believe I am learning from the best.

What gets you angry or sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness of anger?
One of two things that make me very angry and sad is that the children i work with are only 4 and 5 and I feel they are expected to do far too much academecly. I know it is school but these children well at least a quarter of them come in with no schooling, so they're social skills are not there. Many children don't even know what playing is as these days many of it is about playstaions or laptops etc. Yet these children are all expected to learn how to read and write so early yet some of them don't even know how to talk with there friends. EYFS..... The bane of my job, yes it is a great way to follow the childrens learning journey but it also puts too much of an expectation of them.This time of year us as the teachers have to work very quickly to get the childrens 'scores' whre they 'need' to be ready for year 1. This is all down to statistics as it alls gets put onto a grid and that's that yet all year we've had to get these children to do things some are scared of and we forget about the rest of there learning... playing!! My second issue that makes me angry is SEN children, what a big bubble this is. As i may have said before I studied at chickenshed for 4 years and i learnt all about inclusion. I admire chickenshed for being able to be where and how they are with such a subject that alot of people avoid. I grew up with my mum who worked at 2 special needs schools, I have done work experience for a school for autistic children. But what angers me is that many people who work with or around children with certain needs haven't had the taining or experience to be doing what they do. And it upsets me to see them being so uninvolved in what goes on, almost like it's the norm so it just carries on. Many children i have witnessed them daily being taken out of classes because they're 'too much of a disstraction'. It is totally unexpectable!!

What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or as an example of what you love?
I absolutley love to see change in a childs life. Children can have such horrific up bringings and such bad home lives and just feel genwinley sad at such a young age. But making a difference to a child is so rewarding. It can be as small as giving a child a dressing up costume or as big as taking a child on a trip. My role in their journey is something I love, as being 5 is a key age to their lives like i said legally it's their first schooling year. When i do certain activities with children and they do really good work I can feel how proud they are and to be honest I think I feel more happy than them as it's what i love watching children get enjoyment out of what they do independently. I admire those who love doing what I do and doing it for the right reasons. I've come across people in my past who do not love working with children and just get by but people I work with daily, other teachers i admire as they d whats best for the children. I especially admire those who run courses in what they admire!

What do you feel you don't understand? Who do you admire who does sseem to understnad it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same questions as you?
This may kind of be repeating myself but i just do not unstand inclusion in schools. I do not understand how the 'SEN' chilldren of classes get what they need. I do not get how they are different, I donot get why people are so anti special need schools. My opinion is that every child is an individual and yes some children have different needs therefore some children get a better education being in a school where they have more support and some don't. I think it will be an on going task for schools to ever get it right. I just do not get why many people in the profession do not have a clue what they are doing with children that have any sort of needs. I admire people who involve the whole class so that means not teaching 29 children and the 30th child is outside with his one to one support.  I admire childcare that gives families the support they need. But to me something I will never forget and never ever not admire chickenshed that tactle these isssues and make this understnading of inclusion known to the public and know it is possible.

Task 2c

Reflective........... Reflective theory, reflective practive..... reflective!! I was very unsure how i was going to tackle this question and how the hell i would make it benefit my learning, how I would talk about this is detail with knowledge and understanding. Which is when i realised surely I have just processed through my mind what I was going to and I needed to reflect on the word reflect!! so let me give it go.......
I researched into the four practisioners listed in the handbook the first one being... John dewey. He believed the as education is and the way people learn is from what i understood long! Learning from a text book or worksheet is not beneficial but learning through experience is. He said students should be involved in real life task and challenges. There are many ways in which I agree with this, children i have to teach are only 4 and 5 they are expected to write a sentence about a plant growing but surely these children get more from actually going outside and planting that seed and growing the plant... Yes indeed they do as this is a task we carried out. Children learn by doing, as they can relate to it more if they have experienced it just like me or you! Last night I watched a documentary on autistic children, which i may add was very interesting and inspiring. Many of them were in their teens and were approching the 'real world' soon. Their school which was in america had fake shops and sorting offices for the pupils to role play in. This is so key to any child but espeically the less fortunate who may need support in later life. It meant they could go to the shops alone and buy their own shopping. They had tasks like to add up the money of the items get the money out. I was so pleased to see this. From experience of being in setting where children are made to follow the national curriculm and students falling so behind as there not interested or do not understand it , seeing that documentary was such an eye opener. Life skills is what we all need and learning through experience is key to the journey we all make. John Dewey also beleieved that learning through the arts is a great method. I again strongly agree, I spent 4 years at Chickenshed Theatre and many of that i spent learning through the arts, it is so accessible to many people and lets you become the learning material! It can be very hard to always use this in my work for timing and planning purposes but I do always try to as much as I can. Recently the children had to learn a story, their favourite one. Many of them struggled to remember the key moments so i took groups at a time and asked them to role play their story and already they had thought of their key moments.


Whilst researching Kolb I came the diagram which I thought I would try out. When first looking at the diagram it look very familiar to a way I work at school. In the handbook you asked if im aware if I use it in my work,... No i was not but yes I am now. Every week we have to observe children, we have to note down anything they do which meets the Early years foundation stage we then think of activitues to move them on which I never knew is reflecting. I had to reflect on what I observed to get my next stage from the child. Here is a picture of the diagram I tried out.....

After doing that diagram it does make the term reflection seem simple. I have and do all four of them everyday and proabably more than once. But actually writting it down is completly different it puts your own throught process down on a paper.

I looked briefly at Schon who talks about reflecting in the middle of doing something and reflecting when looking back on something. At work at the moment we are currently trying out new ways of pushing the childrens learning on. We have to observe what the child is doing, ie throwning a ball through a hoop, us as a teacher moving that childs learing on there and then has to thing of a next step, ie can you count how many times you get the ball through the hoop. This is Schon's 'IN the middle of' practise. Also the way we presently are doing it is we observe a child ie she was role playing being at the doctors. So then a week later we would reflect on this and have to think back and think how to foward the childs learning ie get child to draw surgery and label. Activities do have to change they may not work or ay not be liked therefore we have to think on the spot, there and then and change it prompto!


Lastly I will just mention Jennifer Moon who I believe is one of the lastest to go into reflection. as i was researching her the term 'learning journal stood out to me. this is because all of our children have these and that is what there called. It a chance for the 'childs voice'. It's their work they choose they they talk about what they have done... This is a diagram that we use to help the childs though process, which i lead to believe they are reflecting on....

Task 2b

Reflective Writing....... Dance Club

Dance Club took place every Thursday after school for an hour and a half for 4 weeks. The dance was choregraphed by Natalia and bought into the school I work with my children. The dance was Price Tag and the aim was to teach this and take the performance to Millfield theatre at the end. I enjoyed every session of this and made me really think about my career path. Before the first session i was terribly nervous and dreaded it, i felt there was alot of pressure on me as my school expected something good and it was almost another job interview for me. Therefore I knew I needed to make them proud. After every club i used to go home and really sit and thing, this is what i want to do. Even though I didn't come up with the choreography i confidently was able to chip in and do extra rehearsals with them. Id come out feeling great and positive about the next session and think I can do this. I got so much out of it, it was so rewarding to see how much the children enjoyed it and how proud the other teachers were of the children, it made me proud of them. I enjoyed giving the children credit for what they had acheived. I would love to know how people build up the confidence, the journey to doing this on a bigger scale, more children etc. I am very glad I had Natalia to work with on this as she is alot more confident and capable than me but we do work very well as a team too. A key thinkg that got me through this process was having faith that they will pull it off and learn the material. I learnt alot about myself through the process and want people to remember that i under estimate and panic what I am capable of. The routine as a whole went very well and I collected the children everyday in the last week for half an hour rehearsal time which worked well and helped me individually.This made me have the time to use my teaching skills and again just do the school proud. I also learnt i feed off of people better than doing something alone but i suppose I haven't done this thing alone before and I am sure one day I shall. I dicovered I do have a passion for teaching and having an outcome with what I teach. Interestingly Natalia is doing this course and has wrote about this aswell, it really interests me that we both will have a different style of talking about this and what we have wrote. I suppose this links to reflection in that every persons thought process throughout something is so different. As you can see I used grid in the handbook to help me write this, which was needed for me. I must say it amazes me how certain methods can make you think so deeply. Some of the answers i wrote I wouldn't have wuite matched with certain open questions.

Task 2a

I am in the process of writing my journal and want to try new ways of recording things i think and feel. My understanding of reflection is it's all about what you are doing and why you are doing it. It's about having the time after a task or activity throughout your day and thinking about the outcome afterwards.

Reflection is quite a scary subject as I feel it is all about what everyone does daily yet it is never thought about or spoken about. At work I constantly get given tasks by teachers or myself and I then have to see whatthe outcome of the task was and develop it. A childrens learning is all reflected which leads back to one of the images I uploaded on what is called 'assessment for learning' which is about assessing what they have done and showing them practical and pushing it to the next step.
My thought process everyday is different and this id due to the fact that the childs mild is still developing and there thought process csn change by the second. There's not an evening that goes by where i don't tak about my day and a certain childs behaviour or wat that child has learnt in that day, which i suppose is related to reflection and i guess what I have to do is write it all down 'puzzle through' ideas and reflect on my day. So I shall be continuing my journal as much as possible, take time to think!

Task 1d

Few pics of worksheets i have came away with from training days. Its hard to upload any pictures of what I do due to privacy etc.  But hopefully you can make head or tail of these papers and they show a slight insight into the training aspects.

Work

Task 1c

A quick video of me discuassing BAPP. I will say I am very proud I was able to do this, also I didn't know i had a youtube account and I clearly already did!! It was easier than expected!!

BAPP

We Network

If some of you have look on Natalias blogg you will see the same video, as we filmed this together. This was all about the social networking of today and how it can help peoples business become bigger and more known. as touched on before Web 2.0 clearly has helped many types of jobs courses and even personal relationships. Here's a little insight to what the evening was about.....


We Network

Task 1b, Web 2.0

As I have the time i shall try and discuss web 2.0. This term was veru unclear to me at the beginning of my course and it freaked me out!! but when explained about web1.0 and comparing them my understanding is its kind of a more social version of the basic internet.
i have read the course reader and it has baffled my mind so i shall talk more about what i know of web 2.0. the likes of Facebook and Twitter i must say is definitly a guilty pleasure of mine, i find them interesting and indeed very clever!! i love to update my status tweet people follow people tag people etc etc. it amuses me to find out what others do in such a quick and easy way no more phone calls!!
on the other hand inn ways you have to be so careful of the internet, in a job like mine where i work with children and they have parents etc i need to watch what i say upload and my language. even when i fisrt started this course i was thinking but i can't write about the kids and i can't upload images in my job!! i do feel they are great things in life today but also very risky!! i have personally been hacked into on my email facebook and msn it was not a nice experience, but now a days i do feel the security is alot better with privacy settings etc. on many things they have the adult ban too.
on a positive note web 2.0 lets us speak and be creative and no1 can edit what we say. people have the choice if they want to listen to what we have to say, it gives us the chance to voice our opinions and share with our friends.
last thing i wanted to say was just about this course and if web 2.0 did not exsist how different would this course be??????

Busy term

I am aware I have not blogged in a long time I have been busy with many different things. Things at work have been very busy with working on receptions show which they perform this week I have been able to use all my delivery skills i have learnt on previous courses. also i have teamed up with Natalia hyson (another student on this course) and she has choregraphed a dance for children at my school who will be performing it at the dance festival for schools. It has been a good process making me feel its the road id love to go down.
On that note, I will briefly discuss my feelings on teaching today. It has become past the point of bout the individual child it is now all about statistics and meeting certain criterias. for children at the age of 4 and 5 they are expected to be writting a sentence hen really half of them need to be taught how to play and socialize properly but that side if it gets lost due to how many observations me and the teacher have to do through out the day.
A student came in the other week with a survey on whether children should be schooled later or ealier, this really got me thinking... as you may know n most countries children do not start school until they are 7 where as here legally it's 5. i agree with taking children to nursery or play school for social reasons, however in a learning aspect for too much is expected of them. yes if you have a good teacher the child can move on so quickly but some children get left behind because we have to concerntarte on getting scores high and assessements done.
that is just a touch on what i have been thinking about lately i shall hopefully soon get a chance to tslk about web 2.0!!

So after having a nice week off for half term. I'm back in the swing of things at work. As we are well into the 2nd term at school now my role has really become important. Reception are expected to do alot of reading and writing yet so many of our children are EAL children, which is English as an additional language. they struggle with even understanding what is being expected of them. this is when visual aids are really important and i would use these during carpet time.
The children learn to read and write through phonics. This far into a school year me being the TA takes certain groups out to push them forwards in their phonics and to ensure they aren't behind. I took a group this afternoon, which we were doing CVC words(consonant,vowel,consonant). One of them afterwards said that really helped me. I think it is very important for children to have that extra time when needed.
Recently reception have had to get their childrens assessments done. Reading high frequency words. checking letters, sounds. I feel that children at such a young age shouldn't be expected to know all of this. Alot of them need to be taught in play and social skills yet all that gets lost as for me and the teacher is constantly about having assess and observe. Observing, now thats a whole different kettle of fish, we have to observe three children a week and then do PLOds for them the following week, which are activities to push them. in the mean time the children will be loosing focus as they need guidance but we rarely have time to be model whats right and wrong.